52. Selene
Chapter 52
Selene
I ’m in my room, alone with my thoughts and the haunting memory of Liam’s smile and laughter. I miss him more than words can express.
In today’s memory, he is wearing a white shirt that is folded at the arms. I imagine he is in our kitchen making me soup.
He looks back and smiles at me. “Hey, baby!”
There is something wrong, though.
He is bleeding from fang marks on his neck. Somehow, I know I did this to him.
“I am sorry, Liam. I am so sorry!” I whimper.
“I know, vampire. I forgive you!”
“I’m scared…”
“Me too. Hang in there, though. I will find you!”
And then, the room disappears and I’m back to reality.
I live for these visions. They make the hours go by faster.
It’s been so long since I’ve fed, and each passing day only adds to my desperation.
Every evening, like clockwork, Stephen arrives with a syringe, injecting me with... something. I don’t even want to know what it is anymore.
Today is no different. Stephen barges in, ignoring my questions about Isabella, and proceeds to jab me with that damn needle.
I flinch at the sting, feeling the liquid coursing through my veins. Then, without a word, he drags me to the office where Levi and Blake await.
I can feel the weight of their gaze as I enter the room.
Levi’s eyes bore into mine. His expression is cold and calculating.
Blake lounges in the corner, a smirk playing on his lips.
But what catches my attention is the figure in the shadows—my mother.
Except I know it’s not real.
Our mother passed away years ago, yet here she is, haunting me in this moment of despair.
Her voice echoes in my mind, filled with disappointment and reproach. “How could you choose the wolves over your own family, Selene?” Her words are like daggers to my heart.
I want to scream, to tell her that I didn’t choose this life, that I’m fighting to survive.
But the words catch in my throat, suffocated by the weight of guilt and regret.
Levi’s voice cuts through the haze, sharp and commanding. “Focus, Selene,” he snaps, shaking me out of my reverie. “Are you ready to comply?”
I meet his gaze with defiance, refusing to bend to his will. “No!” I spit out defiantly. “I’ll never go along with your twisted plans.”
Levi’s lip curls into a sneer as his patience wears thin. “You’ll regret those words, Selene. But for now, you’ll return to your room and think about your choices.”
I’m dragged away once again, back to the confines of my prison. But even as I lie on my bed, drugged and not quite lucid, my mind is filled with thoughts of escape and revenge.
I won’t let Levi and Blake control me any longer.
I’ll find a way out of this nightmare.
The next day brings with it the same monotonous routine. I’m parched. My throat feels like it’s closing up on itself. The hunger gnaws at me relentlessly. Each day blends into the next, a blur of despair and longing.
Today, however, there’s a slight deviation from the norm.
Instead of Stephen, it’s Levi who barges into my room, dragging Isabella along with him. She looks terrified, her eyes wide with fear as she glances around the room.
Levi’s presence looms over me. “You need to stop suppressing your nature, Selene. Join us, and all your suffering will end.”
I shake my head defiantly. “Never. I won’t betray everything I believe in just to satisfy your twisted desires.”
Levi’s laughter fills the room, sending shivers down my spine. Without warning, he sinks his fangs into Isabella’s neck as she screams out in pain.
The metallic scent of blood fills the air, taunting me.
“You see, Selene?” Levi sneers. “You have the power to make the decision. I don’t get what you see in them. They are just playthings for us.”
“They are people.”
He scoffs. “They are food. Now join us, or watch as your friend suffers. You feed on her, and she dies fast. You wait, and she bleeds out. Tick tock!”
As he injects me with the syringe, I feel the effects coursing through my veins, intensifying the hunger within me.
Isabella’s terrified gaze meets mine, pleading for mercy, but there’s nothing I can do.
In this confined space, her blood calls out to me, driving me to the brink of madness.
“Stay away,” I manage to choke out. But even as I speak the words, I know they hold no weight.
Trapped in this suffocating room, with hunger clawing at my insides, I’m powerless to resist the primal urge that threatens to consume me.